-BJP’s malicious designs will never succeed: Finance Minister
– After blocking RDF, GST and PMGSY funds, BJP now targeting the poor’s food
-BJP misusing camps to collect Punjabis’ personal data: Harpal Singh Cheema
Patiala, August 24:
Punjab Finance, Planning, Taxation and Excise Minister Harpal Singh Cheema today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of adopting “cheap and deceitful tactics” to deprive Punjabis of the free ration scheme. He said that neither the people of Punjab nor the Aam Aadmi Party government would allow such moves to succeed.
Interacting with the media at Patiala, the Finance Minister strongly criticized the Centre’s decision to exclude 55 lakh Punjabis from the Public Distribution System (PDS) free ration scheme. He said that excuse of not having KYC the Central Government has already stopped ration for 23 lakh people and has now threatened to discontinue ration for another 32 lakh beneficiaries. He alleged that this was part of a deliberate conspiracy by the BJP to target Punjab and Punjabis. Referring to the repeal of the three black farm laws, he said that having failed in its earlier agenda, the BJP is now hatching fresh plots against Punjab. However, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the AAP government will continue to fight to safeguard Punjab’s rights.
Mr. Harpal Singh Cheema said that BJP has always treated Punjab in a step-motherly manner. Examples include blocking ₹8,000 crore of Rural Development Fund (RDF), withholding nearly ₹1,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), and not releasing pending GST compensation worth ₹50,000 crore. “Now, by stopping free ration, the BJP is directly inflicting injustice on the poor,” he said.
The Finance Minister revealed that the BJP was planning to cancel 8,02,493 ration cards in Punjab, which would deprive 32 lakh people of their entitlement to free ration. He accused the BJP of adopting “ration theft” tactics to snatch away food from the poor. “Punjab has fed the entire nation, and today the Centre is stopping free ration for Punjabis for petty politics. This will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” he warned.
He further said that using the excuse of incomplete KYC registration to deny the poor their ration was yet another oppressive tactic by the Centre. “Punjabis will neither bow down to such pressure nor surrender their legitimate rights,” he affirmed.
Mr. Harpal Singh Cheema also alleged that under the guise of organizing camps, the BJP was collecting personal data of Punjabis, which is a violation of the Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 enacted by the Central Government itself. “Over the past few days, the BJP has been stealing the data of Punjabis and is prepared to misuse and manipulate it. The BJP has now become a serious threat to India’s democracy,” he said.
On this occasion, MLAs Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Kulwant Singh Bazigar, Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Harchand Singh Barsat, District President Megh Chand Sher Majra, Patiala Urban Incharge and Chairman Tejinder Mehta, Mayor Kundan Gogiya, Patiala Lok Sabha Incharge Baljinder Singh Dhillon, Media Incharge Harpal Juneja, Sanjeev Gupta, Mahinder Mohan Singh, Ravinderpal Singh (Prince Lamba), Sumeet Teja, Mohit Kujreja, Gajjan Singh and several other leaders were present.
